Today we had the last class of aligning startups with their markets a class taught by seasoned Venture capitalist Andy Rachleff and Professor Bill Barnett. The class is largely designed around Steve Blank's book 4 steps to Epiphany. While these one liners cannot be true at all times they are definitely worth remembering and considering as an entrepreneur and or CEO.
1- Not everyone should like your idea
2- Start-off with a niche market
3- Grow the market and not your share
4- Fail fast & cheap
5- Best ideas come from unlikely people
6- Brands are built through experience and not advertising
7- Sometimes you will need to build it all yourself
8- Open source is not about free
9- You dont need to own IP to be disruptive
10- Sales force should not do qualifying
11- Don't hit the accelerator unless you were proven successful
12- Only sell your company if you dont think you are going to make it big or the offer is ridiculously, unbelievably and unacceptably high
The main lesson i believe from this class is not to follow the conventional wisdom because it is often wrong. Take risks and dont be afraid to fail and learn from the mistakes.
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